Morrissey blasts label over 'botched' album

Morrissey has blasted his former record label Harvest Records for his "sorrily botched" 10th studio album 'World Peace is Never Enough'

Morrissey has hit out at his record label over his "sorrily botched" latest album.

The former Smiths frontman has blasted Harvest Records for its lack of promotion of his 10th studio album, 'World Peace is None of Your Business', and confirmed that he has parted ways with the group.

In an open letter on fan website True-To-You.net, Morrissey explained that there had been a "mutual mistrust" between him and Harvest, alleging the record company didn't entertain his requests to shoot a music video for his first single 'Istanbul' and later nixed plans for a lavish TV advert.

He wrote: "With every nerve alert, we pushed the label for a proper video for 'Istanbul' to precede the album, not least of all because a single ahead of the album release might inch the album to a higher chart position. The label backed off, even though Istanbul received 55 radio plays in just seven days on a major US station.

"Instead, the label requested a fifth spoken-word film, which naturally had me fumbling around for an axe: no independent thought required."

Morrissey went on to describe his clash with the record label's boss, adding: "All you need to do is disagree with the vanity of the label boss and your beheading will be slotted in between bottles of the most average champagne on the market."

Despite branding the album "botched", the 55-year-old star is hopeful he will be able to release it properly through another record label that will "afford it the respect it deserves".